Moving Time

Will and I have thoroughly enjoyed our little house.  The size and location couldn’t be much more perfect for us.  Unfortunately, though, we have been having some health issues due to large amounts of mold in the house caused by continuous water intrusion.  Since the problems are not being addressed, we have decided to relocate.  This weekend we will be moving from Jonesborough to Kingsport.  We will still be attending school at ETSU and will stay for now at our current jobs. I have been working at Pier 1 Imports and Will has been working at E. Luke Green Co.  As much as we hate to move again, we are excited to get a fresh start in a healthier atmosphere.

Addition to the Family

Will and I are pleased to announce the new addition to our little family.  Kylie, a long haired kitten, came home with us today.  When we met her she purred and loved on us until we couldn’t part with her.  Thru the travel home and everything we hadn’t heard a meow out of her, just purring.  We were trying to decide what to name her.  We both were suggesting names, but when Will suggested Kylie, she looked up at us and meowed.  So Kylie it is.

Payton loves her new little sister!  She was excited from the very beginning.  Kylie finds her a little intimidating however, and when Payton gets too playful she will hiss at Payton to tell her to calm down.  And usually she does.  Payton loves to snuggle her head against Kylie and lick her.  We have great hopes that they will grow up to be the best of friends!

Peyton Manning



Peyton Manning



When we showed Hannah a picture of Payton for the first time and told her we named her Payton, Hannah was most excited.  She looked up from the picture and said, “Peyton Manning????”  Hannah couldn’t believe we were naming our dog after her favorite football player!



Peyton Manning????



Hannah finally made it over to our house to see Payton about a week later.  We all got inside the house and Hannah said, “Mom, look! Peyton Manning!”  Mom and Dad had another wedding to photograph that day so Hannah was spending the night with me and Will.  Being as Payton is only about 6 months old, she is still very easily excited and very easily forgets who to act like a lady.  Hannah wasn’t too sure of it at first, but it didn’t take too long for her to get comfortable with bossing Peyton Manning around.  All evening we heard, “Peyton Manning, cute dog…Sweet Peyton Manning.”  I’m not sure Payton has gotten used to the addition Hannah added onto her name.

Me and Hannah

That night after Hannah was tucked into bed, she wanted to give Mom a call to tell her goodnight.  Mom didn’t answer.  While we were waiting for her to call back, I went about taking care of some things around the house.  Before long I heard Hannah whispering for Will.  She was saying, “William? William, look!”  I went to see what was so exciting.  When I walked into the living room (Hannah decided she wanted to sleep on the couch), Payton was up on the couch with Hannah.  Hannah, who was on the outside, was about to be pushed off the couch by how much space Payton was taking up.  I grabbed Payton and scolded her, because she is not allowed on the furniture.  Hannah thought it was the greatest thing ever though.  When Mom finally called back, Hannah told Mom all about how Peyton Manning climbed in bed with her.  It was at that point we realized Hannah’s misunderstanding could raise some questions if she went to school talking about all this.  Hannah will not be deterred, however.  She knows a Peyton Manning when she sees one!

Baby Girl

Payton has been in our family for nearly a month now.  It seems like much longer.  At this point it is hard to imagine not having her with us.  She is still doing great with her training, though we haven’t been working with her as diligently as we should.

Payton had a successful first visit to the vet two weeks ago.  In the waiting room she just wanted to play with all of the dogs and kittens that came in.  And then a little grey Chihuahua came in.  She just couldn’t figure out what that thing was, but she was willing to play with it just the same if only she could get close enough.

Payton weighed in at a whopping 32 lbs.  She loved all of the attention she got from the vet and her assistant.  When the vet pulled out that first shot, however, Payton let out a yelp before the vet even approached her.  The treat at the end made it all worthwhile, though.

Ruger after Mom hurt his feelings

  

Last Sunday, Payton met her Uncle Ruger.  Ruger is a seven year old male Doberman Pincher.  The introduction went well, especially considering Ruger is not used to sharing his house with other dogs…I mean, children.  All thru the first session of General Conference, Ruger and Payton crawled, squirmed, scooted or whatever it took to get close to each other.  We took them both outside between sessions to play.  It was very amusing.  It started off with Ruger chasing Payton around the yard.  Payton, being a third of the size of Ruger, was slightly intimidated at first.  It wasn’t long before she got her confidence up though.  Before we knew it, Payton was jumping over Ruger’s back like it was nothing.  Ruger didn’t know what to think about that poorly behaved dog.  What he did know, however, is that he didn’t have the energy to keep up with her.  Needless to say, once we went back into the house both Payton and Ruger passed out and had a good nap.

Publish Post

Payton does not like for either of us to leave the house.  When Will is gone, any time a car with a loud exhaust passes the house Payton jumps up and runs to the door.  When I don’t go open the door for her, she starts ringing the bells relentlessly until I break down and take her outside.  Whenever either of us takes a shower, she sits outside the bathroom door waiting for it to open.  When she sees us putting our shoes on she does her best to distract us.  We always put her in her kennel when we leave the house.  She fights going into that kennel.  We practically have to throw her in.  When she sees us coming for her she runs and once we have hold of her she fights us the whole way to the kennel.  However, if we are relaxing at home and she knows we aren’t going to leave, she loves her kennel and is constantly in and out of it on her own.

Payton passed out in her kennel with her head hanging out.

As attached as she seems to be to us, however, we are every bit as much attached to her.  We are definitely the type of owners who (if home phones and answering machines were still in style) would call home while we are out and talk to our baby girl over the answering machine just to “make sure she is doing okay.”

Music Appreciation

Tonight Will and I had the joy of attending a concert by the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra.  Truth be told, it was a requirement for my music appreciation class.  We did find it somewhat enjoyable, however.  The most exciting part was we got in free for being students!  It was the first symphony orchestra either of us had attended.  When we got to our seats and looked at the program we saw that they were only doing three pieces.  We thought for sure we would be out of there within about 45 minutes.  We were wrong.  We didn’t head home until nearly two hours later.  Next weekend we’ll head to Ashville to attend Ashville’s symphony orchestra.  Will and I are both excited for this semester to end.